The Major and the Nutcracker
by Mrs Snowball
Summary: It's tough work being one of the last soldiers in the Land of Sweets. It's even tougher when you've got to deal with tyrannical rodents, clingy villagers, an imaginary princess and a disrespectful nutcracker. Completed.
1. Chapter 1

Nothing could surprise Major Mint anymore. In the past two years, he had seen armies being slaughtered, villages destroyed by giant rodents and statues which had, once upon a time, been living people. Parthenia had always been a magical place, where the impossible wasn't quite as impossible as we'd reckoned, and Mint had been living in it for 48 years. So no, nothing could surprise the Major anymore; not even a giant nutcracker. In fact, Mint had a strong suspicion where that nutcracker came from. After all, who else had the power to make inanimate objects come to life? He drew his sword and stepped towards this particular object.

"Well," he declared, "what have we here?"

His fellow officer, Captain Candy, stepped up beside him, his own sword drawn. "A wooden spy," he commented, clearly thinking along the same lines. "Some new kind of Mouse King trap?"

"Kidnappers as well!" Mint announced as he noticed the nutcracker's companions. One was a teenage girl who clearly wasn't from this kingdom. Where she came from, Mint didn't know, but the two children with her were clearly Parthenian. The costumes were too obvious. The foreigner was dressed less elaborately, in what looked like a nightgown. Why she was running around in a nightgown was beyond him. Still, the interrogation ought to clear that up. Not the children, though; there was no point interrogating them. There was no way of telling how long these children had been with them, but it was clear that Stockholm Syndrome had already kicked in. Or had it?

Candy pointed his sword towards the girl and the nutcracker. The villagers gathered around them, pointing their spears at the newcomers. Mint noted this with satisfaction; he'd done his job well. It was never a good idea to trust strangers, especially in times like this. He hadn't even wanted to throw the ladder down, but the Captain insisted they rescue them. "An enemy of an enemy is a friend," he'd told the Major as he'd seen the group getting chased by the Mouse King's army. Well, Mint wasn't so gullible, and he'd make sure the remaining citizens of Parthenia were on a similar wavelength. They'd thank him once they realised it would keep them alive. Those children would thank him too, once they realised they owed him his life. Still, children will be children. They weren't even remotely relieved to be away from their... kidnappers or rescuers?

_No matter, we'll find out soon enough... _

Having your kingdom taken over by a giant, tyrannical rodent could have a very nasty effect on you. The villagers were a walking textbook for aftershock. Paranoia, rage, depression... you name it, there's probably at least one person there who has it. Compared to them, Major Mint reckoned he'd done pretty well for himself. However, he had an excellent coping mechanism; when some people curled up into a ball or flew into a rage, Mint buried himself in his work.

To say the Major loved his job would be an understatement. He utterly adored the army. It had given him a purpose in his life. It had turned a gangly, awkward boy into a proud, confident man who would never disobey an order and would not rest until he'd completed a mission. He'd worked hard to reach his rank and he was certain he would've made Lieutenant Colonel by the end of the year if the Mouse hadn't gone and wiped his army out. Not just his regiment; with the exception of himself and Candy, every soldier in the Parthenian military had been slaughtered. Even then, Mint kept going. He'd been commanded to protect his people and heaven help him, he was going to do it, no matter how many weapons the Mouse threw in his direction. A small thing like a massacre wasn't going to stop him from doing his duty; if anything, it made it even more urgent. Who else was going to protect them, after all? So while the kingdom was destroyed around him, he'd done what he could. He'd saved as many people as he could find. There were some he could even consider friends, and he wasn't going to put them at risk because the Captain decided to be chivalrous and rescue a bunch of strangers; strangers that, as the interrogation went on, the Major began to distrust more and more. Especially that Nutcracker. All that talk about a "Sugar Plum Princess"... what was he? Mad?

"It's the truth," insisted the wooden man. "Told to me by Prince Eric himself."

And with that, any credibility he had went straight out the window. If there was one person Mint despised more than the Mouse King, it was Prince Eric. He'd be damned if he was going to listen to anything from that silly boy, not after he'd spent the last two years trying to fix what he'd left behind. The Major didn't know what had happened to the prince, nor did he really care. Candy did, however, and insisted that this princess could actually exist. Mint went along with it, but only because he really couldn't think of anything else to do. Every other plan had failed; why not put your faith in some mythical princess with super powers?

Still, he was sceptical. Even though he'd put himself in charge (there was no way he'd leave a dangerous expedition in the hands of some inexperienced civilians, thank you very much), the thought of such a creature existing seemed completely ridiculous.

"Are you quite sure this princess exists, Captain?" he asked after the other two had gone.

"Of course, Major," the Captain replied. "I told you; the King believed in her magic."

"Yes, well, did you ever actually _see_ her? Is there any proof that she actually exists?"

"There are stories about her..."

Mint scoffed. "Fairy tales, most likely."

"Those stories have to come from somewhere, Major. Besides, how could they know where she is if she doesn't exist?"

"You're actually going to believe a talking nutcracker?"

"_You_ did."

The Major didn't say anything to that.

"Shall I be the one to tell the villagers?" asked Candy.

"No, Captain, I shall announce it at dinner. Tell them they'll have to fend for themselves for awhile; I'm sure they'll understand."

Candy grinned. "I can think of one who'll be sad to see you go."

The Major frowned. "I am aware of that, Captain."

"They're quite worried about you, Major. You should spend more time with them; talk to them a bit more. They think you don't like them."

"I have a job to do; a job that keeps them safe. Tell them that, and make sure they realise it. The last thing I need right now are some old biddies asking me to join them for tea and biscuits."

"I'll pass it along," Candy said as he made his way towards the door. "Just thought I'd let you know, though; it's not old biddies asking after you."

Mint didn't even dignify that with a response; he went straight back to plotting the quickest route to the Sea of Storms. Even if they didn't have a hope in hell of finding this princess, at least he could say he'd done his part.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I suppose I should warn you that this "retelling" won't be as straightforward as some of you might expect. The two scenes in this chapter, for instance, are not in the movie (especially that second one). I'm really sorry if this bothers anyone; most of it was done to expand on Mint's character. _

The only time Major Mint really associated with the villagers (apart from when he was giving them orders, of course) was when he had to eat. The Treetop Village was large, but it only had one dining hall; a middle-sized, circular room filled with six long, wooden tables and benches. It wasn't designed for comfort; the "village" was originally intended as an army base, so practicality was the first priority. The only ones with their own rooms were the Major and Captain, and they were lucky to get them; everyone else had to sleep in dormitories, regardless of their age or marital status. A lot of people weren't happy with this; these citizens were part of a farming community, so being cooped up high above the trees was unusual and uncomfortable by their standards and the separation of their families didn't make it any easier. Major Mint, whose family had never been the farming type, didn't really understand this need to feel grass beneath one's feet; not at the cost of safety, anyway. In fact, the constant complaints about it began to annoy him and only helped to distance him from the people he was supposed to be protecting. Candy was better at socialising; he chatted with these men and women as if they were his equals. They were grateful to both men for saving them, but only three of them could actually consider the Major their friend.

One of these three was walking past the table where the two officers, and their new guests, were seated; a thin, brown-haired woman in a light blue dress. Candy called out to her.

"Elizabeth! Come and join us!"

Elizabeth looked at them uncertainly. "Am I allowed to?" she asked, looking straight at the Major.

"Oh, yes, of course," he nodded, gesturing to the empty seat beside him. "Plenty of room."

Candy winked at him as she sat down, and Mint glared at him. Did he have to make it so obvious? Even the newcomers had noticed it, and they were now looking at him as if he was some riddle they were trying to solve. Well, he wasn't having any of that.

Elizabeth leaned towards him. "Are you alright, Major?" she asked him, touching his arm with one skinny hand. "I've been worried about you. You don't seem to have-"

_Great scott, she's making it worse! _

Mint jerked his arm away and straightened up. "I am in perfectly good health, Elizabeth," he retorted, jutting his chin out as he did so. "But I will feel a lot better if I manage to eat something without being dragged into pointless conversation!"

Elizabeth flinched away, the others stopped looking at him and Candy didn't say a word. Good; he was in control again.

He made the announcement about twenty minutes later. The people didn't take it very well.

"What do you mean, you're going?" asked one old man. "You need to be _here_! What about us?"

"Are you _abandoning _us?" asked his grandson.

"_Of course_ they're abandoning us!" One old crone near the back announced. "Anyone with sense would leave this place before the Mouse King destroys it!"

"You're supposed to protect us!"

"How could you _do_ this?"

"Don't you _care_ about us anymore?"

"Of course we care about you!" Candy insisted as Mint grew increasingly more irritated. "That's why we're doing this! We need to leave so we can defeat the Mouse!"

"Well, why can't you do that here?"

"They're going to run off on us! Just like Prince Eric did!"

"_WILL YOU ALL BE QUIET AND LET ME FINISH?" _shouted the Major. Surprisingly, it worked.

"We are leaving," the Major explained as calmly as he possibly could, "because we think we have found someone capable of defeating the Mouse King. Now, I know we haven't done very well so far, so this is probably the best chance we have. We need to find this" – he still couldn't take it seriously – "this... this Sugar Plum Princess."

No one said a word to this. Maybe they'd all heard the fairytales the Captain was talking about. Maybe they actually believed them.

"This Princess lives far away from here. We have no choice but to leave you, but I assure you, you are not being abandoned. We _will _return. You have my word on that."

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" asked the old crone.

"Keep your heads down and try not to get yourselves killed," the Major replied. "As long as you stay up here and don't take any chances down below, you should be perfectly safe until we return."

Later on that night, as he was packing his supplies, Major Mint heard a knock at his door. He was only slightly surprised to see Elizabeth standing there, her hands clasped together.

Neither of them said anything. Mint nodded and the young woman came into the room, closing the door behind her. Once the Major was absolutely sure that no one was watching him, he put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her.

Contrary to what people might assume, Major Mint wasn't stupid. He had figured out that this woman was the one who was "asking after him", and he knew that tea and biscuits weren't exactly on the agenda. He also knew that Elizabeth was in love with him; and, as much as he tried to deny it, he was very much in love with her. Not that Mint was ever going to admit this. There was a time and place for a relationship and this wasn't it. It didn't help that Elizabeth was a hopeless romantic. He'd known her for nearly two years now – he'd taken shelter in her house after his army was massacred – and she clearly expected him to bring her flowers, serenade her and basically act like a lovesick fool. Well, that wasn't how he did things, and she had to accept that. He had a job to do, and defeating the Mouse King had to be the first priority at all times. It didn't mean he didn't love her; in fact, once the Mouse King was gone, he'd already decided he'd marry her. But Elizabeth had a noticeable lack of confidence and seemed to be convinced that, if he didn't declare his love for her every day, he'd lost interest. On top of that, she was just as clingy and simple as the rest of those villagers; except instead of just fretting about her own safety, she worried about his as well.

"Are you sure you'll be safe?" she asked him now.

"I can't make any promises, Elizabeth. I have no idea what I'm up against!"

Well, he wasn't going to mollycoddle a woman who was nearly 25 years old, no matter how worried she got. Still, she had enough sense not to beg him to stay.

"Why'd you come here?" he asked her.

She looked a bit hurt. "Can't I come here? Can't I see you?"

"Most people usually have a reason."

"I have a reason; a very good reason. I love you, Major."

Mint nodded.

"I love you, and I wanted to... well... spend the night with you."

He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but it had clearly taken Elizabeth a lot of nerve to approach him like this. She'd never sought him out like this before, since she was so afraid of offending him by distracting him from his work.

"Well," he said, "I don't see why not."

It was only when she stretched out on the bed, fiddling with her dress as she did so, that Mint realised exactly what she expected to do. He wondered if he should tell her to stop; this was the sort of thing she should save for another night. On the other hand, he hadn't been with a woman for about fifteen years and he did intend to marry this one. He could get away with it, this once.

"Major," she asked. "Will you... will you help me?"

"Of course, my dear."

The expedition set off the next morning. Major Mint and Captain Candy were the only ones carrying supplies; there wasn't a knapsack suitable for the Nutcracker and they weren't going to make a young girl carry a heavy load. Still, there was enough for the whole group; Mint had made sure of that before they left. He felt more than ready to lead the expedition, especially after the night before. He hadn't slept that well in years.

The villagers gathered around them, cheering and wishing them the best of luck. Clara hugged the two children while Masher looked on and the other three shook hands with some of the men.

"We'll be back before you know it!" the Captain said to one of the men. Mint had no time for such friendly banter. His handshakes were brief and he only spoke to remind them to stay in the village.

When he reached Elizabeth, he offered her one small courtesy; he tipped his helmet to her. The time for showing affection was gone and his personal feelings were once again shoved to the back of his mind, replaced immediately by observations, map routes and the pride that comes with authority.

He had an expedition to lead.


	3. Chapter 3

It was around midday when they reached the bridge – if you could even call it a bridge. The Mouse King's army had indulged in some more pointless destruction and had reduced it to little more than a group of stepping stones floating across a deep ravine. Still, it was relatively crossable, and that was Major Mint's basic requirement. Besides, there weren't exactly a lot of bridges around, and finding another one would take up most of the day. They'd have to cross here. In fact, he was just preparing to lead them across when he heard a voice behind him.

"Perhaps we should find a safer place to cross."

It was that blasted Nutcracker.

The Major had already begun to dislike this strange wooden man. It wasn't just the fact that he'd obviously ran into the Mouse King; it was the way he kept questioning him. First there was all that business about Prince Eric, then there was the fact he wouldn't tell anyone who he _really_ was... and now there was this; this blatant insult to Mint's authority. Who did this man think he was, questioning an experienced officer? Just because he was dressed like a soldier didn't mean he actually _was_ one.

"Perhaps you should remember who is in charge of this expedition!" replied the Major haughtily. There, that put him in his place. No more questioning from him; or from any of them, for that matter. No one said a word as he strode over to the remains of the bridge. The first stone wobbled unsteadily as he stood on it, making him flinch. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed. Mint waved to the others.

"Righto, no problem at all! Come along!"

And he was off. He couldn't look behind him to make sure the others were following; it was hard enough to keep his balance as it was. The stepping stones swayed unpleasantly as the Major moved from one to the other, all the while making him feel like one would send him falling into space. This scared him a lot more than he cared to admit. Thankfully, no one was close enough to notice.

He got halfway across before he nearly lost his balance. He toppled backwards, waving his arms about like a windmill, until one of these arms landed on Captain Candy's shoulder. Leaning on the other officer, he regained his balance and straightened up again.  
"Tricky," he muttered to himself, once again thankful that no one could see how frightened he'd been.

It never occurred to him that he might have knocked Candy off-balance. In fact, at that point, Mint had more important things to worry about; like getting across this bridge without falling to his death and keeping his dignity in the process. It was only when he finally reached the other side that he decided to see how the others were getting on.

"I'll be gobstruck!"

At some point, Candy had fallen off the bridge and was now clinging desperately on to the Nutcracker's arm... _which the wooden man had pulled right off his body. _He was holding it with the arm that was still attached, backing up as he pulled the Captain to safety. It was quite possibly the most bizarre thing the Major had ever seen in his life. Still, bizarre or not, it looked as if the Captain was all in one piece... apart from his knapsack, which he'd clearly lost in the fall. Fantastic; another problem to contend with and they hadn't even crossed the bridge yet. Mint snorted irritably and turned away, gazing off into the distance.

Those villagers would've envied the Major right now. He was out in the fresh air, looking out and the clear sky and the serene, beautiful landscape. It all looked so... virginal, as if no one had ever settled on this land. Perhaps, several years ago, Mint might have shared this opinion. He might even have sat down and tried to sketch the scene in front of him (how long had it been since he'd sketched something just because he wanted to?). But he wasn't as naive as the people he was protecting. He knew perfectly well that the only reason this place looked so serene was because the Mouse King hadn't got around to destroying it yet. But he would, just like he'd destroyed everything else.

No, Mint wasn't a very optimistic man, but at least he was being realistic. If the Mouse King wasn't stopped, he'd destroy this kingdom completely; and so far, nothing had been able to stop him. Just look at this; they were out searching for a fairy. _That's_ how desperate they were! The Major had never cared for fairy magic; it was good for creating snow and growing flowers, but not much else. His faith had rested entirely in the military; it was powerful enough to destroy Parthenia's enemies before, and it still would be, when he thought of the plan that would eliminate that rodent once and for all. And he would, one day. When General Winslow, his commanding officer, had led the army against the Mouse King, he'd made a mistake. That was how they'd failed. Mint wasn't going to be so foolish.

At last, the others made it across the bridge. No sooner had they done so than Candy plopped down onto a rock, looking tired. Well, he'd have to rest another time; they had a lot of ground to cover. Still, Mint tried to be remotely understanding.

"Bad luck about your knapsack," he said to the Captain. "Now we'll be needing more supplies!"

He thought he'd been pretty calm about it – the last thing they needed was to hunt for more supplies, and he hadn't even yelled at the man! Candy, however, didn't seem to appreciate his self-restraint. "Supplies?" he asked angrily, standing up and glaring at the Major. "Thanks to _you_ I almost fell into the ravine!"

_What? _Had this man forgotten who he was talking to? Mint would be damned if he tolerated this, especially after nearly risking his life to get them across. He'd be _damned!_

"Well," retorted the Major angrily. "Don't blame me for your sloppy footwork and general clumsiness!"

"Clumsy? _I'm_ clumsy?"

Major Mint glanced around, indicating that he couldn't possibly be talking to anyone else, before glaring at the Captain again and striding off. He'd only got a few steps away when he heard Candy shout after him.  
"_You're_ the bumbling clodhopper!"

The Major spun around immediately. "Who was dangling from a branch?"

"Whose leadership skills put me there?" The Captain said as he ran after him. Mint was in no mood for this. He had to end it now.

"Oh, my leadership skills were just fine. _I_ didn't fall off, did I?"

The Captain didn't respond, but it was too late; the argument had left the Major in a bad mood and he didn't speak to anyone as they trekked over the fields. He'd probably have been in an even worse mood if he realised Candy was merely holding his tongue. There were a lot of things he'd wanted to say, some of them really unpleasant, but he kept his mouth shut. Getting into an argument with Major Mint was pointless; the man was completely unyielding, unable to understand anything outside of military life. In that sense, Candy almost pitied him. His job had been just that; a job. It hadn't taken over his life in the way that Mint's did. The Major didn't seem to have had any friends, or any kind of social life; just the army, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, the army was gone. And with the army gone, what did Mint have? Nothing; only a bunch of rules that meant nothing anymore.

So, yes, sometimes Candy did feel bad for his fellow officer. But that didn't mean he couldn't be a real pain in the neck.

They reached the Sea of Storms in the middle of the afternoon. Standing on a hill, Major Mint could see the water in all its choppy, murky glory. He didn't really want to cross it, but sometimes you had to do things you didn't want to do. Mending a boat, for instance; woodwork was never Mint's strong point.

"The Captain and I will make a boat seaworthy," he told the others, "while you two" – he gestured to Clara and the Nutcracker – "gather supplies."

There were no questions, no insults; they just went off, leaving Mint and Candy to find a boat that actually looked like it would float for more than five minutes. Neither man spoke. They just dragged the boat out where they could get a clear look at it. It wasn't _too_ battered, which was more than could be said for the others; the sail needed some work and there were several holes in the hull, but it'd be stable enough once those were fixed.

The whole process took around forty-five minutes; Candy patched up the hull and Mint worked on the sail. The Captain did try to strike up a conversation, but Mint wasn't having any of it; he was putting all his effort into making sure this boat stayed afloat. The Major wasn't an experienced sailor, but as they worked, he began to feel considerably more comfortable about travelling in this boat. Candy had done a great job considering how little they had to work with, and his sail looked suitable for the job. All he needed was to secure it to the mast, but that could wait until they'd decided the boat was really stable enough to carry four passengers.

They were just testing it out when they heard Clara shouting to them.


	4. Chapter 4

Up to this point, Major Mint hadn't paid much attention to Clara. She didn't cause any trouble or make a fuss, and the only time Mint ever really acknowledged her existence was to wonder why she was there in the first place. He could just about understand why the Nutcracker had to come with them, but what was the point of bringing a _woman_ along? In the Major's experience, women were nothing but trouble on expeditions like these. The tougher ones would grumble and act as if _they_ were in charge; the weaker ones would get tired too easily, demand to stop and then scream the house down if anything small and scaly came within two feet of them. Granted, Mint hadn't had much trouble with Clara; in fact, in some ways, she reminded him of his niece, Stacie, who he'd liked well enough. Now, however, she was proving to be a real nuisance. The last thing Mint needed was a hysterical woman on his hands; if he'd wanted that, he'd have brought Elizabeth with him.

"What's she carrying on about now?" he sighed as Clara ran down the hill towards them, calling their names. "Probably saw a snake or a spider or a-"

"ROCK GIANT!" Shouted the Captain.

_What the devil-_

But there it was. Stomping behind the Nutcracker was a huge creature made entirely out of rock. The Major didn't want to guess how tall it was, or even how it could see where it was going. None of that was important. It was huge, it was invincible and it was coming his way. He gasped, dropped his monocle and frantically tried to think of some way of dealing with this. He came up with nothing. Major Mint had never encountered a rock giant before and had no idea how to defeat one without a cannon around. All he could do was crouch next to the boat and pray that the creature didn't spot him.

He heard Clara calling to them from somewhere to the right.

"Major! Captain! Over here!"

She and the Nutcracker had taken shelter behind a large rock. The giant – which, Mint noticed, wasn't exactly the brightest of creatures – didn't appear to have noticed them. It didn't even move as the two officers scurried over to join them.

_What on earth is it doing? _The Major wondered, but then it straightened up and he found out. The creature was lifting a boulder in what passed for its hands, and as the group watched, it threw it down onto the recently-finished boat, smashing it to pieces.

In that moment, Mint forgot where he was. He forgot that he could very, very easily meet the same fate as his boat. All he cared about was the fact that his work – _his hard work!_ – had been demolished, and he wasn't going to stand for it. He stood up, put on his most threatening pose and glared up at the rock giant.

"I WORKED ON THAT SAIL A GOOD HALF-HOUR, YOU CHEEKY BLIGHTER!"

He felt someone tug at his shoulder. It was Candy.

"Why don't you invite him over for tea and cakes while you're at it?" the other officer asked angrily. Mint was just preparing to make a comeback when he realised what he'd done. He'd attempted to scold a rock giant, and not only was it not backing down, it now knew exactly where they were. There was nowhere for them to run now. They were doomed. They could only back away as the rock giant stomped towards them, preparing to crush them just as it had crushed the boat.

It was almost upon them when the snow fairies arrived, flying around the small group before zooming back up into the air. Everyone stared at them as they flew past the rock giant, who tried in vain to swat them as if they were little more than insects. They could only continue to watch as the fairies skimmed the surface of the Sea of Storms, turning the churning waves into ice. To make things even more miraculous, a pink horse came trotting along the now-frozen sea, dragging a sleigh behind it. Clara seemed to recognise the horse. Mint didn't, but he hadn't seen a live horse in a long time.

Nutcracker immediately bolted towards the sleigh. "Come on!" he shouted. "Before the snow fairies disappear!"

For a moment, the Major was unable to move. He'd already seen a man remove his own arm and a real rock giant in the same day, and a swarm of snow fairies freezing an ocean was almost too much for him. He could only stare at them, transfixed, until Candy pulled on his arm and dragged him forward. Then, having regained his senses, he ran towards the sleigh and took the reins. They were off, speeding away from the rock giant and towards safety.

Well, not quite. Within seconds, Mint heard the rock giant coming after them, covering as much distance with one stride as they did on their sleigh. He kept calm. There must be a way of outrunning this thing. There _had_ to be.

"Ah," said the Captain, "he'll break right through that ice!"

The Major glimpsed back at the creature. The ice didn't look like it was going to break anytime soon.

"Seems the snow fairies did their job too well," he said, now putting all his effort into urging the sleigh forward as fast as possible. Nothing worked. The rock giant was always a few steps behind them. If they stopped, that thing would be upon them instantly. As much as the Major hated to admit it, he was terrified, but all he could do was grip the reins tightly and urge the horse to go faster.

Suddenly, someone yanked the reins out of his hand, bringing the sleigh to a halt. It was the Nutcracker, and no sooner had he put their lives in danger than he raced out to face the rock giant, sword in hand. For a moment, the Major almost felt bad for him; for someone with such a high opinion of himself, the Nutcracker was clearly inexperienced in situations like this.

"A sword's not going to do you any good, lad," he said pitifully. The wooden man didn't listen.

"You'll be pulverised!" Mint called after him. Still he didn't turn back. Even as his lady friend told him to be careful, the Nutcracker ran right up to the rock giant... but instead of trying to stab it with the sword, he thrust the sword into the ice, which split immediately. The wooden man ran back towards the sleigh as the crack widened. Mint encouraged him. Despite what he thought about the Nutcracker, he certainly didn't wish him dead. Besides, maybe he was onto something with this...

Well, they couldn't stick around to find out. If this was enough to send the rock giant to the bottom of the sea, it might sink them as well. The moment the Nutcracker reached the sleigh, Mint started it up again. He didn't look back. He didn't need to. Behind him, he heard a loud crash, the churning waves and the roar of the rock monster as it sank to its watery grave. He felt no pity. He just kept steering the sleigh.

Hours later, and the journey was nearly impossible.

Not that this was Mint's fault; oh, no. He was usually very good at getting people where they wanted to be. He could read a map, take note of any useful landmarks and they'd get there eventually. But this was a whole different kettle of fish. There was no map, no landmarks and to top it all off, there was fog. All the Major could see were frozen waves and pink mist. It seemed to go on for miles.

It had occurred to Mint that this probably _could_ go on for miles. The Sea of Storms was an utterly vast ocean, and finding this island was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even with the waves out of action, they didn't have any food and this horse was bound to get tired eventually. Come to think of it, Mint himself wasn't feeling very energetic, either. He couldn't begin to imagine what time it was, but he'd been working non-stop for most of the day and it was finally getting to him. He jerked his head around, hoping to find a suitable resting place, but all he saw was more ice.

That was another thing; this ice wasn't permanent. If they didn't find land soon, they faced the possibility of being stranded when it finally began to melt. This sleigh certainly wouldn't float, and once it sank, what would happen to them? Major Mint was a relatively strong swimmer, but he didn't fancy his chances against those waves. Some of them were bigger than he was.

He didn't pay much attention to the people around him; he was too preoccupied with these thoughts (not to mention a private longing for his bed back in the Treetop Village). They travelled for another hour or so before he decided he'd had enough.

"Weather's getting worse," he said to the others. "I say, we turn around."

He was about to draw the horse to a halt when it stopped in its tracks, looking to the right. Something was wrong with it. Clearly it was as sick of this ice as he was.

"Wait!" shouted Clara.

Mint turned and glared at her. This was certainly not the place for waiting.

"It's too dangerous! There's been no sign of this mysterious island! Not to mention what's going to happen when this ice starts to melt!"

But apparently such thoughts didn't occur to Clara.  
"Marzipan saw something," she said as she stepped off the sleigh. "I'm sure of it."

She walked off into the mist, with the Nutcracker close behind her. The Major didn't even try to stop them; if they wanted to get themselves killed, let them. He'd had enough of those two, anyway. He'd almost had enough of this horse, too; it had stopped doing what he told it to and was now trotting after the others, dragging the sleigh – and the men still sitting on it – behind it. Mint couldn't even believe what was happening until the fog cleared and he saw it for himself.

They'd found the island at last.


	5. Chapter 5

The Sugar Plum Princess's island was as close to paradise as Parthenia could possibly get. Oh, the kingdom was beautiful when a giant rodent wasn't trying to destroy it, but it could never compete with the unspoilt beauty of this island. Even the fog didn't seem to affect it.

Major Mint only offered it a brief glance.

"No time to enjoy the scenery!" he announced, preparing to take charge again. "Let's find this princess!"

With that, he started to stride off, clearly expecting the others to follow him. All his doubts about this powerful princess had – for the moment at least – completely vanished. After all, fairies did possess the ability to improve the world. One really powerful fairy could certainly have created this island, and Mint wouldn't mind seeing what this fairy looked like. Maybe she _could_ defeat the Mouse King, after all...

"I believe the Nutcracker has earned the right to lead us!"

The Major turned around, his hand on his hip. Candy looked right back at him, his expression unreadable. He knew Mint was going to be furious; and he was.

Mint didn't _have_ to come on this expedition. He could've easily dismissed it and stayed back at the Treetop Village, where his work was actually appreciated, and let the others go out and get themselves killed. But he'd given them the benefit of the doubt and he'd agreed to lead them to this island. Why? Because he knew how to lead, which was more than he could say for the others, and he knew they'd need his expertise on the journey. And they had, hadn't they? Alright, his boat had been smashed and the bridge had been a bad idea, but he couldn't be held responsible for that for the whole trip, could he? Sometimes things _did_ go wrong; it was the way of the world. Besides, who had just steered this sleigh without taking a break? Not the Nutcracker, that was for sure. What were they _thinking_, replacing him with this... knick-knack?

"But... but..." he stammered, trying to make them see sense. "He's _wood_!"

"And the reason we've made it this far," replied the Captain.

Mint's mouth dropped open. He was the reason? _He_ was the reason? What was _wrong_ with these people? Even as he watched, they were walking right past him, following the Nutcracker as he headed away from the beach.

"Handing the reins to a... a... a _stump?"_ The Major said incredulously. "I've never heard of such a thing!"

Yet the thought of leaving the expedition never crossed his mind; and not just because there was nowhere for him to go, either. The Nutcracker was brave, Mint would admit that much, but he didn't have the Major's experience as a leader. He was bound to slip up eventually, and then Mint would be needed to help sort things out. _Then_ they'd appreciate him. All he had to do was be patient and not act _too_ smug when the wooden man made his inevitable mistake. Besides, he still wanted to see what the Sugar Plum Princess was like.

They found the castle a few minutes later. It was hard to miss; a huge, bright pink building, the same colour as the road they'd been walking on. The three men walked towards it, unaware that Clara was lagging behind. Well, Mint didn't notice, anyway; he was thinking about what would be the best way to speak to a powerful fairy. He'd have to bow, certainly, but what else?

The Nutcracker gently tapped on the door, and it swung open. As they gazed into the white-and-pink entrance hall, none of the men could see anyone who could have opened it. Candy and the Nutcracker seemed to be frozen. Mint, on the other hand, was not so dumbstruck. It was just an entrance hall, for pity's sake.

_I knew it_, he thought to himself as he glanced at the other men. _I knew that wooden man wasn't cut out to lead us. _

Holding his head high, the Major stepped into the castle. Where was this princess? Up those stairs, perhaps? There was no one there to show them the way. Clearly this fairy was too powerful to need servants.

He walked a little further... and something smacked him in the face. Mint staggered backwards, his head aching. What was going on? Was there some kind of invisible barrier?

Before he could figure it out, however, a steel cage dropped down on the three men. The moment it hit the ground, it connected to the stone floor they were standing on, trapping them inside. As the castle and its entrance hall fell down, the Major realised what had happened immediately. It hadn't been real. That was why there were no servants; this castle was nothing more than a giant piece of wood. It was a trap laid for them by the bats that now swarmed around the cage, and they'd walked straight into it.

Furious with himself for falling for such a simple trick, Mint grabbed the bars and tugged at them, trying to escape. But the cage was solid steel, and even as the men struggled, the bats took to the air, bringing the cage with them. Still Mint didn't give up, even as they flew over the now-unfrozen Sea of Storms. To fall out of the cage now would mean certain death, but that didn't occur to the Major. All he knew was that he had to get out. He _had_ to. He would _not_ let himself be captured by the Mouse King, not after he'd managed to outwit him for two years! His dignity would not allow it. It was the biggest insult the gods could throw at him.

So he kept fighting. He called the bats every curse word he knew. He tried to stab one of them with his sword, but they dodged it effortlessly; and every time they did, the cage lurched violently and the other men warned him to stop.

"Do you _want_ to get us killed?" asked Captain Candy.

"Oh, you think the Mouse King's going to welcome us with open arms, do you?" Mint replied haughtily, but he stopped. However, as the Palace of Sweets came into view, he promised himself that he wouldn't go down without a fight. If that monstrous rodent wanted to kill him, then he'd better not expect it to be an easy job. Major Mint had dodged death for longer than he'd ever been king. He wasn't going to die now.

The cage landed, rather unceremoniously, in the middle of the courtyard, and for a moment the Major was shocked by how dismal the whole place looked. He'd only been to the Palace of Sweets once in his life, but he remembered it as being a bright, beautiful place bursting with colour. Then he saw the Mouse's soldiers advancing towards them and concentrated on them instead. He didn't like the way they were looking at him, especially the one brandishing a set of keys in his hand. Mint thought he'd encountered him before, but he couldn't tell for sure; all these mice looked similar. He glanced at the other two. They didn't seem worried at all. Maybe they were as good at hiding it as he was.

The soldiers surrounded the cage as it was unlocked. The top half was picked up quickly by the bats and dropped on the far side of the courtyard, where it hit the cobblestones with a loud, unpleasant clang. The men winced. This was a huge mistake; in that brief moment of distraction, the mouse soldiers were upon them. They were held still by hands that seemed as strong as the bars in their cage had been.

"Disarm them!" ordered the key-bearing mouse. Now that he was closer to the Major, he could see a red mark on the top of his head. Once he got his sword out, this would be his target. _If _he could get to his sword...

"Keep an eye on that one!" suggested one of the bats in a thick cockney accent, nodding at the Major. "He nearly stabbed some of us, he did!"

And Mint's arm was twisted painfully behind his back as Red-Mark walked towards him. He snarled. Mint snarled right back. He didn't flinch even as the huge rodent took his sword away, although he was extremely close and he smelt filthy. Mint bided his time, waiting until the mouse had his back to him, before he lashed out.

The other soldiers were holding his arms, but no one had bothered with his legs. No sooner had Red-Mark turned around to give the others orders than he was sent flying as Mint kicked him firmly on the backside. No one said a word. No one moved to help either of them. All they did was watch as the mouse got up and walked over to the Major.

"Do you want me to tie them up as well?" he hissed in Mint's face. "Do you want us to drag you along?"

The Major didn't reply. Red-Mark didn't care.

"Bring 'em to the throne room!" he ordered. "The King wants to see 'em. Especially _him_." He nodded at the Nutcracker.

There was no talking as the three of them were dragged deep into the bowels of the once pleasant palace. The only sounds they heard were their own footsteps. There was nothing to say. There was nothing to see, either; the corridors were dimly lit and the walls appeared to be bare. Even the throne room didn't look much better; it was decorated in black, blue and purple, giving it a more dingy look than Mint had ever thought possible. In the middle of this room, like a bloated centrepiece, was the creature that Mint had been fighting for the last two years. The Mouse King sat calmly on his throne, a hideous grin on his face, as the three men were brought forward.

"Ah, Nutcracker," he said in his oily voice. "We meet again. How very _delightful_."

The Nutcracker did not say a word. He stared coldly up at his enemy, his expression unreadable.

"Giving me the silent treatment, are we? Oh, I understand. It must be very embarrassing to fall for a wooden castle. I'm not surprised you don't want to talk about it."

He said nothing.

"So, where's that girl of yours, Nutcracker?"

Still nothing.

"Missing her already? Don't worry; we'll find her. We managed to find you, didn't we? _All _of you."

His eyes turned from the Nutcracker to the two officers.

"So," he grinned, standing up. "Major Mint and Captain Candy; we meet at last. We've talked a lot about you, my soldiers and I; you've been quite a nuisance. Oh, not a threat; just a nuisance. You never had what it takes to be a threat. If you did, I'd have ordered your deaths by now."

The Major tried to imitate the Nutcracker's blank stare, but he struggled at it. For one thing, it disgusted him to hear his name coming from that rodent's mouth. He gritted his teeth and didn't dare look around to see how Candy was doing.

Meanwhile, the Mouse King had turned his attention to the Nutcracker again.

"You sure know how to pick your companions, don't you, Nutcracker? One silly little girl, one man who doesn't realise his army is gone and another who has sworn devotion to a vanished prince. Not the best choices, are they, Pimm?"

"No, Sire!" agreed the cockney bat from the courtyard. He'd perched on top of the Mouse's throne and was looking at the men in a scarily excited way.

The Mouse King sat down again, stroking the top of his sceptre absent-mindedly. "Not that it matters," he said, "since your travelling days are over. I have a special fate in store for you, Nutcracker. As for your friends here" – he pointed towards Mint and Candy – "well, we'll see what we can come up with, shall we? They really have been _quite_ an inconvenience."

"What shall we do with em', Sire?" asked Red-Mark.

"Take them to the circular dungeon; I've placed a barrier there that'll make sure they aren't disturbed for a while. Then come back straight away; we'll need wood, and lots of it."

He turned away, and Mint thought he was finally finished. Then, just as the men were being dragged out of the room, he turned around and looked directly at the Major.

"Oh, Major," he called out in an unnervingly friendly way. "I just thought I'd let you know; that little treehouse of yours? I know where it is. I've _always_ known where it is."

"No, you haven't," Mint hissed, breaking his vow of silence at last. "You _haven't_."

But if the Mouse had heard him, he made no sign. The last thing Mint saw of him was his back as he was forced away.

The Major had made a huge mistake in that throne room, and he was fully aware of it; he'd revealed a weakness, a chink in his armour, and it was used against him constantly as he and the others were marched down to the circular dungeon.

"Lookin' forward to visiting your house, Soldier Boy!"

"Can't wait to meet all those nice people again! We got along _so well_ last time!"

"Wonder if they've built anything else we can eat?"

Mint kept his face expressionless, but inside he was fuming. _When we get out of here, _he told himself, _I'll cut their throats. _

The only one who didn't say anything was Red-Mark. He walked on ahead, stopping only when he reached the door of the circular dungeon. There, he took the key from the hook and unlocked it.

"Cut the ropes and throw 'em in!" he ordered.

The Nutcracker and Candy were thrown, very fiercely, onto the cold stone floor. As they struggled to their feet, Red-Mark snorted with laughter.

"Count yourself lucky we're cutting your arms loose!" he told them. "Don't expect any more luxuries; this ain't a hotel! Bring the Major over here; I've got something special for him!"

Mint was forced forward, still keeping his face expressionless. He suspected Red-Mark was going to kick him somewhere, especially after what had happened in the courtyard, and he braced himself for it. What he didn't expect was for the enormous rodent to throw him to the floor, hands still tied, and kick him firmly in the stomach.

"_That's_ for the time you poured hot oil on my head," hissed Red-Mark.

Mint winced as the door swung shut. Looks like he had met that mouse before, after all.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: This chapter was particularly difficult to write. Please let me know if the Major seems out of character; also, please let me know if Elizabeth is becoming a bit "too perfect", if you know what I mean. _

There was no way for the men to know how long they'd been locked up. It seemed like hours. It might have been. The dungeon was cold and dark, and the only window looked out onto the corridor. They couldn't see the sky. There were no benches or even bedpans. The prisoners didn't even have access to the whole dungeon; about half an hour after they were thrown in, they'd seen the Mouse King standing outside. He didn't say a word; he just pointed his sceptre at them and they were smacked against the wall. Later, they would get to their feet again and discover there was a barrier there. Why, they had no idea, but it meant they couldn't get near the door. The odds of them ever getting out had decreased dramatically.

"We still have Clara," insisted the Nutcracker. "She escaped, remember? She'll know where they've taken us."

"How can she help?" asked Captain Candy. "She can't fly, can she?"

"She'll find a way. Clara won't abandon us."

Major Mint didn't dignify this with a response. He was sitting as far away from the other two as possible, right next to the invisible barrier. The sheer closeness of that door taunted him. He'd pushed against the barrier, even banged his fists against it at one point, but it wouldn't budge. Filled with despair, the Major had slumped down onto the floor with his legs drawn up to his chest. He knew now that he was going to be here for the rest of his life. He'd either be left here to rot, or he'd be taken away to whatever ghastly fate the Mouse King had in store for him. And this time, Mint knew he wouldn't be able to fight them. He had no strength left. He hated this sense of hopelessness; it almost brought him to tears, but Mint never cried, not in front of anyone, and he certainly wasn't going to start now.

It was all that blasted Nutcracker's fault. If he hadn't dragged them on his fruitless search for that princess, the Major wouldn't even be in this dungeon. He'd be back in his office in the Treetop Village, where he could see the sky and there was no dirt to cling to his uniform. If he was back there, he'd finally come up with the plan that'd knock that Mouse off the throne he'd stolen, and then... then...

Major Mint was good at planning ahead, and although he hadn't quite figured out how he was going to defeat the Mouse (but he _would_, of course), he knew exactly what he was going to do afterwards. Marrying Elizabeth was on the list, and Mint was sure he'd be rewarded for his bravery in some way; maybe a promotion? Well, he certainly didn't plan on retiring. Either way, his plans for the future involved Elizabeth, a gold medal and maybe one of those nice cottages by the Spearmint Lakes. He'd worked hard all his life; he had a right to these things, didn't he?

Well, thanks to the Nutcracker, he wasn't going to get them. There was no one around to give him a promotion, he'd give those lakes another week before the Mouse King destroyed them, and as for Elizabeth... well, thinking about her made the Major feel more depressed than ever. Now he was trapped in here, craving the outside world, he couldn't seem to get her out of his mind. He wanted her, but at the same time, he wished he'd never met her. Then his head would be full of something else; something with more pleasant memories attached to it. Even the memory of what they'd done before he left made him depressed; it reminded him of when he was a free man, how good his life had been before he'd gone on this pointless expedition, and how he'd been foolish enough to go on it in the first place. Still, he tried to make the most of it; there were worse things he could think about, after all.

Oh, yes; Mint realised that soon enough. No sooner was he reliving a particularly nice memory of the woman he loved – the softness of her skin, the way she smiled at him – than another image forced its way into his mind; the Treetop Village, covered in flames. The people whose lives depended on his protection screaming in terror, trying in vain to escape the fire that was destroying what passed for their home. The lucky ones falling to the ground and breaking their necks; the unlucky ones suffocating as the fire trapped them. The hideous sound of the Mouse's soldiers laughing from the ground below. Even as Mint tried to force the image out of his mind, he heard the Mouse's voice, more vicious than ever:

"_I know where it is. I've always known where it is."_

Captain Candy had tried to talk to him about it. Not straight away; after he'd untied the rope that bound Mint's wrists together, the Major hadn't felt like talking about anything. For a while, Candy had respected that; and then, just after the Major had finally given up on the barrier, the younger man had moved a bit closer.

"Major," he'd said gently, "I know what you're thinking..."

"No, you don't," Mint had muttered.

"Major, the Mouse was trying to hurt you. There's no way he could possibly know where the Village is. We kept it well hidden, remember?"

Mint thought of the bats flying the cage across the Sea of Storms. He remembered the little bat with the cockney accent, perched on the Mouse's throne.

"We never watched the skies, Captain," he'd said, staring at his feet.

Candy looked away for a moment, and Mint realised he'd remembered the bats too. Then he turned around again.

"If he really knew where we were, why didn't he destroy the place?"  
"Because we weren't a threat," Mint snarled. "Didn't you _hear_ him, Candy? We never came close to defeating him. He had no reason to destroy that village."

"He still doesn't, Major," the Nutcracker pointed out. "Those people aren't going to hurt him anytime soon."

"You know nothing about it!" the Major glared at the wooden man. "That rodent has destroyed _hundreds_ of villages! _None_ of those people would've hurt him, but that didn't save their lives, did it? The Mouse King doesn't _need_ a reason to destroy things; he just does it because he _can!_ And now he knows where our Treetop Village is, he'll reduce it to a pile of splinters; just because he can."

Candy dared to step a little closer. "Major, you don't know that. That's exactly what the Mouse wants you to think, don't you see? That's why he said it in the first place; he wanted to get to you, and it's working. You can't let him do that to you."

He sat down beside Mint.

"They'll be perfectly fine," he told the Major. Then, as an afterthought, the Captain put a hand on the other officer's shoulder.

"_She'll_ be perfectly fine." He added quietly.

"Get off me," Mint hissed at him, and turned his face away. Behind him, he heard Candy walking back over to the Nutcracker. He didn't care. He thought of the village again – all those people, completely defenceless – and he realised he'd failed them. He'd failed to protect them. He'd failed to defeat the Mouse King. All those years he'd spent in the army, all the time he'd spent studying and marching and obeying his superiors, and it all amounted to precisely nothing. He'd failed to achieve his goals, and now he never would.

He still didn't cry – it wasn't in Mint's nature to cry – but during that time in the circular dungeon, he came extremely close.

And then the door opened.

The three prisoners scrambled to their feet immediately, bracing themselves for the arrival of one of the soldiers. Maybe only one of them would be taken; maybe they'd all be executed at once. Either way, they were in for a shock.

It was Clara.

She entered the room uncertainly, clearly not sure what she was doing. She glanced around the room once, and was just about to leave when the Nutcracker called her name. Clara spun around, but she still looked extremely confused.

"What's wrong with the girl?" asked Major Mint.

"We can see her," the Nutcracker explained, "but she can't see us."

Candy tapped on the barrier. "Or hear us, apparently."

So _that _was what the barrier was for. It almost worked on Clara, but clearly Mint had underestimated her intelligence.

"Why would the Mouse King post guards on an empty room?" she asked herself as she stepped towards the centre. Her hand stretched out and touched the barrier. On the other side, the Nutcracker smiled.

The girl frowned a little as she figured out what she was up against, before grabbing a torch from the wall. The men just had time to shield their faces before she swung it at the barrier, smashing it instantly. They were visible again. They were free.

"We've to get out of here!" insisted Clara. "The Mouse King's building a bonfire!"

The Nutcracker frowned. "I doubt it's to warm up the palace."

The four of them hurried out of the cell and up the stairs to the balcony overlooking the courtyard. All the while, Mint was concocting a new plan. First, he'd get his sword back. Then, he'd make that Mouse pay.

_Thinks he can scare me off with his talk about the villagers, could he? Well, when I'm through with him, he'll wish he'd never said a word to Major Robert Mint! _

Now he was out of that cell, with a purpose and a new-found appreciation for fresh air, Major Mint found the Mouse's threat no longer disturbed him. As they reached the door and crept out onto the balcony, he was almost prepared to dismiss it. Candy was right. That evil rodent had just said it to upset him; an insult to add to the injury of being locked up in the first place. He'd never known where it was. The civilians were safe, all of them, and Mint would get back to them just as soon as he'd wiped out every wretched rodent in this blasted-

Then he looked over the balcony and his train of thought slammed to a halt.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: This was another difficult chapter. Once again, please let me know if Mint was out of character. I had to fill in a lot of gaps since he barely appears in this part of the movie. _

They were there. All of them.

The villagers were herded into the castle courtyard as if they were livestock. There seemed to be an awful lot of them, and for a moment the Major tried to convince himself that they were _another _group of civilians; one he had nothing to do with. He'd heard about them. There were people down there Mint had never seen in his life. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of people he_ had _seen. That woman dodging a blow from a soldier's spear had helped set the tables in the dining room. That little boy who was almost in tears had stood silently beside his father while Mint explained why his mother couldn't share a room with them. He saw Jacob and Old Benjamin – the other two villagers he could call his friends – creeping towards a place beneath the balcony. He couldn't see Elizabeth. This was probably just as well.

The Mouse King watched the people with a sadistic grin on his face. He was standing next to an enormous pile of wood. This was clearly the bonfire Clara had been talking about. Mint couldn't seem to give it much attention; he was concentrating on the people. They couldn't have left the Treetop Village; he'd specifically ordered them not to.

_Looks like the Mouse wasn't lying, after all... _

The Nutcracker watched them, too.

"Sugar Plum Princess or no Sugar Plum Princess," he said. "That rat's got to be stopped!"

The wooden man leapt onto the railing and stood up straight, looking down at the Mouse King. The others didn't do anything. They weren't sure what to do.

"Is this any way to run a kingdom, Mouse?" shouted the Nutcracker.

The Mouse didn't even seem surprised to see him. "Aaah," he replied, still grinning that sadistic grin. "You're just in time for your party."

He pointed his sceptre at the pile of wood and it immediately burst into flames, creating a pyre that dominated the whole courtyard. If it was supposed to intimidate the wooden man, it didn't work; he leapt off the railing and jumped to the ground, knocking out two of the rodent guards as he did so.

"There's more to being a king than having a crown," he told the Mouse King, who laughed.

"Oh, suddenly _you're_ the expert?"

The Nutcracker gestured towards the civilians. "You'll never gain their loyalty until you've earned their respect."

The Mouse King glared at him. "I don't need their loyalty." He brought his sceptre forward. "I don't even need _them!"_

Up in the balcony, Mint watched this intently. He kept his eyes firmly on the huge rodent, shaking his head. _He wouldn't... he's not that mad, surely? _

But this was the rodent who destroyed whole villages because he felt like it. A bunch of disrespectful villagers meant nothing to him. He looked them over just once. Mint felt someone grab his arm.

"Don't even think about it," Candy hissed in his ear. "It won't help."

_Don't think about what? It's just a threat, he's trying to scare us all, he won't really- _

"Those peasants who do challenge me," the Mouse chanted, "_living statuary _be."

It was the screaming that got to Mint. It didn't last for very long, but it was long enough to make him come to his senses. What was he doing, hiding up here? Those people _needed_ him! The Nutcracker hadn't been much good at it; he was now fighting with the Mouse King, as if he'd forgotten anyone else was there. The Major bolted towards the stairs and was about to get through the doorway when Candy grabbed his arm again.

"Major, wait!"

Mint shoved him away. _"Get off me, you silly man! Can't you see I have a job to do?" _

"You don't even have a sword!"

"I'll get one! I'll knock out one of those blighters and take his!"  
Clara joined them. "Let him go, Captain! He's right! The Nutcracker needs our help!"

Mint stared at her. "The _Nutcracker_? Who's talking about the _Nutcracker_? He's _armed_! There are _innocent people_ down there!"

And he was off, rushing into the corridor and wishing he'd memorised the route when they'd brought him down here. Which way was it to the courtyard? He had to get there immediately before something really terrible happened...

A small voice in the back of his mind reminded him that something terrible had happened. The Mouse had done something to those people; something involving "living statuary". The Major wasn't entirely sure what that was, but the first thing that came to mind was his massacred army. If it was anything like that... well, he needed to protect those people more than ever.

A guard came along, carrying a small bag and whistling to himself. He was so intent on staying in tune that he didn't notice Major Mint until the officer punched him in the face. Before the rodent could recover he was slammed against the wall and slid to the floor, bag in paw. The Major didn't give him another glance. He could see another flight of stairs, leading down. This had to get him closer to the courtyard...

"Major!"

It was Candy again, racing after him with Clara close behind.

"For pity's sake, Captain, I'm in a hurry!"

"I can see that," replied the younger officer, holding up the bag the guard had been carrying. "But I thought you could use this."

"Yes, a rodent's bag. Very nice, Captain, but not very use-"

Then he saw Candy's sword. Even as he realised what was going on, the Captain reached into the bag and pulled out the sword Mint had owned for most of his life. He tossed it towards the Major and it clattered on the floor. Mint picked it up, examining it carefully. It was still in good condition.

"What do you reckon, Major?"

"This will be _very_ useful, Captain. Very useful _indeed_."

They only encountered two other guards as they found their way to the courtyard, and they was dealt with easily. They were looking out at the Mouse and Nutcracker's battle, completely unaware of the other three sneaking up behind them. The first they knew of it was when Mint stabbed the first one in the back. His companion only had time to gasp before Candy dealt with him.

"You should find a place to hide," the Captain told Clara. "There'll be more of these things in a minute."

Clara shook her head. "I'm helping the Nutcracker," she declared firmly.

"Good for you," the Major replied absent-mindedly. At this point in time, he didn't care what the girl did. He was too busy scanning the courtyard, trying to figure out where the civilians had gone. All he could see were the Mouse, the Nutcracker, several guards (all headed straight for him) and a collection of statues that he was sure weren't there when he'd arrived. Where were they?

Then he remembered the power of that sceptre. The penny dropped.

_So that's what "living statuary" is... _

"Major! They're coming this way!"

"I see them, Captain."

Mint raised his sword and focused on the rodents coming his way, analysing them carefully. He wasn't going to underestimate them. They may be quite stupid, but they were strong, and about 500 of these had put an end to an army twice their size. The Major suspected the Mouse had helped them out that time, but he still braced himself for their attack.

"Come on, you blighters," he hissed, showing no sign of fear. "Let's see what you're made of."

It had been quite a while since Major Mint had been in a proper battle. As the Mouse's patrols increased in number, he'd been forced to give up any plans of facing them and chose instead to throw things down at them from above; and as they were forced to preserve their supplies, he even had to give up doing that. When Clara and the Nutcracker had arrived, he was trying to teach the villagers how to do some damage with their spears and pitchforks. Most of them didn't take to it; some took to it a bit too enthusiastically. Yet somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was convinced that he could turn these trembling civilians into an army strong enough to take down the Mouse King. Looking back on it, the Major realised this was yet another indication of how desperate he'd been.

The first of the Mouse's guards came charging towards him, pointing its spear straight ahead. Mint just managed to observe the guards – all stout, ugly creatures armed with spears – before this one got close enough to jab him with it. The Major just managed to get out of the way before he caught sight of another one trying to sneak up on him. He slashed it across the throat with his sword and turned his attention to the original attacker, who was calling for reinforcements. He was closer to Mint now. This was a huge mistake; spears were good for poking people from a long way off, but they weren't so good for actual combat. For that, this rodent would have to rely on his bulk.

He thrust the spear forward again and Mint grabbed it just below the point, yanking it out of the rodent's hand. Before the guard could think of another plan, Mint stabbed him with it and let him fall to the floor. Three more guards approached him. He kicked the first one in the head, stabbed the second and tripped up the third before finishing him off. Two more came. He dealt with them.

The Major hadn't felt so alive in a long time. He forgot about the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, fighting a few metres away. He forgot Candy was close by, dealing with the guards with similar ease. He even forgot about the civilians. He was caught up in the heat of battle, finally lashing out at the vile creatures who'd destroyed his kingdom. He wasn't even counting how many guards he'd killed. They kept coming, and he wiped them all out, one by one.

It was only when there was a hoard of dead rodents at his feet that it occurred to him to look around. Candy was still there, wiping his sword on one guard's tunic.

"You weren't hoping to put an end to that one with the red mark on his head, were you?" he asked Mint.

"Not enough to chase him all over the castle, no."

"Good. I dealt with him a few minutes ago."

Mint was about to say something – to congratulate the Captain, perhaps – when he heard a scream from behind them. Both officers spun around and saw two things; the Nutcracker collapsing against the fountain and the Mouse... was he _shrinking?_

The two officers ran over to help deal with him, but the Mouse wasn't worth using a sword on now. He only came up to Mint's ankle, and he looked around nervously before skittering off to a nearby drain. The Major couldn't help grinning; there was something very satisfying about the Mouse's fate.

"Ha ha!" he crowed, raising his sword in triumph. "Back to where he belongs; the sewer!"

Then he looked around, and his satisfaction died away. The Mouse may have fled, but the damage was still there. The Nutcracker – who, the Major had to admit, had shown remarkable bravery in taking on that rodent by himself – now lay in a crumpled heap with Clara at his side. The palace was still as cold and dark as it had been before. The only real differences were the dead guards and the bonfire. Oh, and the "living statuaries", of course. He couldn't forget about those.

Then the Nutcracker began to change. A bright light surrounded him, and as everyone watched, he began to look like less of a wooden knick-knack and more like a man. Candy was the first to recognise him.

"It's Prince Eric!"

And then Mint saw him properly; the dark hair, the royal uniform...

"The Prince!" he cried delightedly. Then he remembered everything he'd said about Prince Eric. Or, to be more specific, everything he'd said about Prince Eric in the Nutcracker's presence. He was suddenly overcome with shame and embarrassment and he backed away, tipping his helmet over his face as he did so. Mint hated being embarrassed more than anything else and he certainly didn't want the others to notice. He walked away, pretending to examine the statues. Then he recognised the two children who'd arrived with Clara and the Prince and found himself _actually_ examining the statues.

He shouldn't have done that. He was feeling rotten enough without staring at the people he'd failed to save. There was no possible way of bringing them back, so what was the point in examining them?

No; he shouldn't have done that. He certainly shouldn't have walked along, scanning them for familiar faces. There was nothing to gain from it; it would only make him feel worse. Yet he kept walking and examining. He stopped asking himself why. It was as if he was looking for something and he knew – no, he was _certain_ – that he had to find it if he wanted to keep his peace of mind.

Then he found her.


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn't the sight of her that surprised Major Mint. He knew she'd be there. Why should the Mouse's soldiers spare her? She was just another peasant to them. She was significant to no one except him. No, it was the fact that she was right at the front that surprised him. He hadn't expected to spot her in plain sight; not the woman who always avoided confrontation. Had she been expecting to see him, perhaps? Someone to rescue her?

He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn to face them. He didn't think he could, anyway.

"Major!" he heard the Captain shout. "You've got to see this! The Prince reckons Clara is-"

Then he fell silent. He'd realised what the problem was. Mint heard the footsteps come closer.

"That's her, isn't it?" asked Candy.

Mint said nothing. He just continued to look at Elizabeth; and it _was_ her, even if the Captain wasn't quite sure. She was frozen in a state of terror – bending to the side with her hands out in front of her, as if she thought she could deflect the Mouse's spell – and she, like the others, was now a shade of stony grey, but Mint didn't need colours to spot her. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about her face; he could recognise it on sight.

He stepped towards her and stroked her cheek. The softness of her skin had been replaced by cold, hard stone. She was never going to fret over him again, or ask him how he was, or tremble whenever the Mouse's name was mentioned. She was never going to hold him and kiss him and tell him that she loved him. She was never going to be his wife.

"I'm sorry, Major," sighed the Captain.

Mint shook his head.

"She'd never have been a very good wife, anyway," he said hoarsely, and he didn't know if he was talking to Candy or himself. "All that travelling, in dangerous conditions... Elizabeth would've been frantic, you know she would... Spending all her days muttering about how frightening everything is... she'd have driven me mad..."

But he didn't quite believe that. Captain Candy didn't believe him either.

"She might not actually be dead, Major. The Mouse did say '_living_ statuary', didn't he? There might be a way..."

The Major still didn't look at him. He just kept stroking Elizabeth's face – only as far as Mint was concerned, it wasn't _her_ face anymore. It was a statue that had once been her. In some way, that made the whole thing even more confusing and upsetting. At least if she'd died in some normal, non-magical way, he'd have been able to tell it was her. This... what _was_ this? He kept telling himself it wasn't her, yet some part of him was still convinced that it was. Why else was he still standing here, stroking her as if he actually expected her to respond? And why the devil did he feel that sense of hopelessness again? It wasn't like Elizabeth was the first person he'd lost to the Mouse, was it? Oh, it hurt now, but he'd get past it just like he got past every other unpleasant thing in his life. Still, it almost killed him to walk away from her. The Captain joined him as he started back to where Clara and the Prince were.

"Are you alright?" he asked. The older officer didn't _look_ alright; he looked like he was going to be sick.

"I don't _need_ a wife, anyway," muttered the Major, looking at his feet. Once again, he wasn't sure if he was talking to Candy or himself. "They're a luxury at best and an inconvenience at worst. I've got along just fine without one, haven't I?"

"You really loved her, didn't you?"

He couldn't tell if Mint was ignoring him or not.

"Oh, yes, the kissing and cuddling was nice, and she was an excellent companion on a good day, but it's not like it's a necessity, is it? It's not like I need her to live my _life._ She was just a distraction... nothing more..."

Candy had no idea what to say. He just walked beside the Major as he rambled on.

"And even if I _did _love her, what does it matter? The Mouse wouldn't have spared her just because I _loved_ her. Love doesn't save a person's life, does it? It's just a feeling, like being angry or content. I don't need her... I _don't_..." he sighed, stopped in his tracks and finally looked at the other officer.

"But," he admitted at last, "it would've been nice. That's all. It would've been nice to... to have her there."

Candy nodded. He half expected the Major to continue, but Mint had finally ran out of things to say. "Are you sure you want to see the Prince?" he asked him. "If you'd rather be alone..."

Mint shook his head firmly; being alone was the last thing he wanted right now. "No, I'll go and have a word."

He knew what the Captain was thinking; Eric was the one who'd challenged the Mouse, and he probably assumed Mint would blame him for what had happened. It was reasonable enough. However, the Major didn't feel any rage towards the Prince. He didn't think he had the energy to feel that way at the moment.

"Maybe you could ask Clara if she could do something?" suggested the Captain as they continued walking.

"Why on earth would I want to do _that_?"

"Didn't you hear, Major? Clara might be the Sugar Plum Princess!"

"Oh, come on now! Clara's just a girl!"

"Yes, but..." then he stopped. "Look!"

For a moment, Major Mint didn't recognise Clara. The brave girl in her nightdress had been replaced by a long-haired young woman in a sparkly pink dress. It was only the way she looked at Eric that made him realise they were the same person. But that wasn't what Candy was looking at.

The palace was changing around them. The various shades of grey were washed away, revealing the bright colours Mint remembered from earlier years. Flowers grew around the pillars. The stones on the balcony shone like jewels. Then this magic force reached the statues.

Major Mint watched this very carefully, unsure what he should do. He toyed with the idea of trying to move the statue that had once been Elizabeth away from it, just in case it did her even more damage. It was no use. He couldn't get there in time, anyway.

The force stretched over them, and the peasant closest to it – a little girl – began to change. The colours returned to her body and she looked around her, slightly dazed but very much alive. Now Mint couldn't look away if he wanted to. Elizabeth was just a few feet away from that little girl.

Once one of them had changed, the others returned to normal in quick succession. They stood up and looked around, one by one, as if they had no idea what was going on. Some of them staggered and fell over due to the positions they'd been frozen in, but they seemed fine too. And all around them, the palace kept changing. The enormous bonfire was replaced with a large, elegant fountain. After two years of gloom, the Palace of Sweets had been restored to its former glory.

Was it all because of Clara? Eric certainly seemed to think so, and Candy seemed to agree with him. Mint wasn't entirely sure this was even happening. It was all too... _perfect_. One minute he was getting used to the fact that he'd never have the future he wanted, the next... this had happened. Was this a hallucination of some kind?

The Captain tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to his left, but Mint didn't need visual indications. Clara's change was miraculous, but it didn't seem quite as miraculous as that of the woman now standing close by; the woman who, just a few seconds ago, he'd assumed he'd lost forever. She looked as if she couldn't believe it either.

"Aren't you going to go and see how she is?" asked Candy, but Mint was too busy doing just that. Elizabeth saw him coming and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his waist. This was as odd as everything else; she was normally so timid she'd wait for him to come to her.

"_Major_! Thank heavens you're alright! I was so worried about you! I thought the Mouse had done something to you..."

_She doesn't remember, _the Major realised. _She really doesn't remember being turned to stone. _

Elizabeth was still rambling on, staring up at him and clinging to him like a small child.

"And then these fairies came along and told us we had to stand up to him and I was so worried about you! I thought something had gone wrong and I was scared you were dead, but you're _not _dead, you're here and I'm so-"

"You're very talkative today, Elizabeth."

She stopped, blushing. "Yes, I'm sorry, but you have no idea how worried I was."

"Oh, I think I do," the Major replied, and before the young woman could say anything else, he picked her up and kissed her passionately, completely ignoring the people around him. She was as soft and fretful as she'd ever been, and he didn't want her any other way.

"I'm glad to see you too," he told her.

The celebrations began seconds later; and there was a lot to celebrate. Not only had the Mouse King's tyrannical reign ended at last, but there was a new king – one who had proven himself a hero – and the arrival of the Sugar Plum Princess, whose existence was almost a legend.

Eric took pride of place in the centre of the crowd, just outside the palace doors. Clara was at his side, and both of them smiled as they watched the children they had rescued perform in front of the civilians.

Major Mint and Captain Candy watched them, too. They stood to the right of the Prince and Clara; a place they knew they had earned. The Captain had half expected Mint to stay with the others, but the Major wasn't going to deny the right to be honoured. Tipping his helmet to Elizabeth (who was still blushing after their kiss), he strode over to resume his place.

The two children were excellent dancers, but this wasn't much of a surprise to Mint. In Parthenia, dance lessons were mandatory; everyone had to learn ballet at some point. It was a tradition in the Kingdom of Sweets; a very strange one, but a tradition nonetheless.

Then the children stopped, and Candy nudged him.

"It's our turn," he whispered.

"Are you _mad_?" asked the Major, but he still followed the Captain as he took the floor. Making sure there was plenty of space (the last thing they needed was to crash into an innocent bystander) the two men bent down and kicked off the Russian dance.

This was yet another strange thing to happen to the Major today; not only was he dancing for the first time in a long while, but he was dancing of his own free will. Ballet lessons may be mandatory, but Mint always felt they were rather useless and, truth be told, he found them rather embarrassing. If it weren't for the fact that it was part of the training to become an officer (for no reason Mint could see) and he was expected to prove he could do it, the Major would've happily gone for most of his life without kicking his legs out like that. Now, much to his surprise, he found he was enjoying himself. The joyous atmosphere was clearly infectious, because Mint was in a particularly good mood. The Mouse King was gone, Elizabeth wasn't dead, he was getting some recognition... what harm could some dancing do?

So he struck a pose and threw himself into his performance. He leapt, he twirled, he saluted and he proved to the people watching that he wasn't as awkward as they assumed. The Major was really enjoying himself... until he fell over. One minute he was spinning around the courtyard, managing not to hit anyone, and the next minute he was on the floor. To make matters worse, Candy tripped over _him_. He'd just hit the ground when the other officer tumbled right over him. The Captain, who'd managed not to hurt himself, turned around to check on the other officer. He'd expected Mint to lose his temper and was extremely surprised to hear the Major laughing. _Why_ he was laughing, Mint couldn't quite explain; he hated being humiliated, and falling over in the middle of a performance was very humiliating by anyone's standards. However, he was unhurt and, more importantly, no one was laughing at him. The fact that he'd basically tripped over thin air _was_ pretty ridiculous, wasn't it? He had to laugh it off; he was in too good a mood. Besides, it was worth it just to hear everyone cheering when he and the Captain took their bows.

"Are you alright?" whispered Elizabeth when he resumed his place. She was on the other side of the steps. "You haven't broken anything, have you?"

Mint resisted the urge to laugh this off as well. Only Elizabeth could ask him a question like that. He nodded, smiled at her reassuringly and turned to watch Clara and Eric dance.


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone watched. How could they not? Clara and Eric's dance was magical. It wasn't just that they were extremely good at ballet; it was the atmosphere. It was as if, with each step they took, the Mouse King's hold on Parthenia ebbed away. By the time they were finished – and no one, no matter how hard they tried, could guess how long their dance took – it was as if he'd never been there at all.

There was a roar of applause. Fairies swooped down and handed Clara a bouquet of flowers as Eric finally became King. He asked Clara to stay with him. She accepted, they kissed, and for a few seconds, the world seemed at peace at last. For the first time in a very long time, the Major felt he could finally relax.

Then he heard a voice from above.

"I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE HAPPY ENDINGS!" shrieked the Mouse from atop his little bat friend – only the bat was now considerably bigger than he was. He was making a beeline for the couple in the centre of the courtyard, his tiny master urging him on.

Mint groaned. _We should have gone into that sewer after him, _he thought to himself. _Should've finished him off... _

He drew his sword, preparing to do just that, but it was too late. It was too late for anyone. The bat had swooped down and its rider had snatched Clara's locket. For a moment Mint hesitated, relieved that rodent hadn't done something worse, but then he saw what happened to Clara as the Mouse opened it and he realised he'd done all the damage he needed to. The Sugar Plum Princess appeared to be fading away.

The Major didn't move. He had no idea what to do. The only one who seemed to was that little girl who'd been rescued earlier. She pelted a snowball at the bat, knocking him right out of the sky. It didn't do any good. Clara still vanished, leaving Eric standing there on his own, reaching out for the spot where she'd been only a few seconds earlier.

No one went near him. No one said a word. In that short space of time, the hopeful atmosphere had disappeared with Clara. All that was left was a lonely young man, a bright palace and a lot of confused people.

"What do we do now?" asked a little girl at last. "Can we go home?"

Mint and Candy looked at each other. "We don't know," the Major replied.

There was uneasy muttering among the villagers. Mint glanced at the King. He was the one who should really be answering their questions, but he was in no condition to do so. It was up to them.

"Wait in the Great Hall," he instructed. "Once you're there, we'll decide what to do."

"Can't we go home?" asked one of the men.

"We don't know yet; I don't know how well this magic works, but it is possible your homes aren't habitable yet. We might need to rebuild them, and that could take months."

More uneasy muttering. One old woman glared at Mint as if it were_ his_ fault their homes might not be ready.

"The Major's right," Candy added. "It's a possibility we have to consider, but for now we all need to rest. I'll escort you to the Great Hall, shall I?"

There were no unfriendly glares for Candy; no uneasy muttering when _he_ spoke. Maybe the Captain had been onto something with all his talk about spending time with them. Either way, there were no objections as he led them off. Mint brought up the rear, Elizabeth at his side.

"Is she really gone, then?" she asked quietly.

A frown flickered across Mint's face. How the devil was he supposed to answer that? But he did his best.

"I'm afraid she is, as far as I can tell."

"Oh." Elizabeth sighed. "She seemed really nice. I hoped she'd stay."

"I think we all did, Elizabeth." _The King especially, _he added silently. "Wherever she's gone, she didn't leave of her own free will."

"So she might come back?"

"I don't know, Elizabeth. I just don't know. I wouldn't think too much about it, if I were you; we have our own lives to worry about."

It was only as the Major said this last line that it finally dawned on him: regardless of what had happened to Clara, the Mouse's reign really was over. He could now concentrate on his own future; the one he'd already planned out.

He grabbed Elizabeth's hand and drew her to a halt. He wasn't going to get the medal and the house straight away – he had enough sense to know that – but there was one thing he could get started on right now. He let the others get a fair distance away before he finally spoke to the young woman, who was now looking at him as if there was something wrong with him.

"There's something I want to ask you, Elizabeth," he told her. "Something I've been thinking about for a while. It's rather important."

She still looked confused. "What is it, Major?"

"Will you marry me, Elizabeth?"

She looked so shocked that for a moment, Mint was sure she'd say no. He watched her carefully, trying to think what he'd do when she did. He wouldn't be able to look at her again, that was certain. He'd have to avoid running into her, which would be awkward, but it was better than being humiliated again...

"Yes."

Mint was jerked out of his thoughts immediately. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yes, Major," she repeated, smiling at him. "I will marry you."

Nearly an hour later, and Eric was still in the same place.

Major Mint had sought him out after the meeting had ended. After several arguments, they'd decided they'd examine the villages tomorrow and take it from there. Then the serious talk had died away and everyone began chattering on about all the things they'd do now that they were free again. While all this had been going on, the Major had wished he'd left the proposal until after the meeting was over; the first thing Elizabeth had done was tell a few of her friends, who had subsequently told even more people, and most of Mint's mental planning was interrupted by congratulations and a few suspicious looks. Mint suspected Elizabeth's friends didn't like him very much.

The new King hadn't joined them, as the two soldiers had hoped he would. The Major, who knew all too well what Eric was going through right now, had thought it was worth going after him, but Candy insisted he gave Eric some more time. "He needs to get used to it," he told Mint quietly. "We don't all deal with grief the same way, Major."

He was right, but this had gone on long enough. It wasn't good for a man, being alone like that. Besides, Eric had a job to do. He'd proved he would make a good leader; now he had to keep it up. Mint couldn't help him if he slipped up this time.

The King didn't even look up when Mint strode over to join him. He was still staring at the place where Clara had been, concentrating on something. Mint didn't know what.

"Your Highness," he said as quietly as he could. "The meeting's over. It might be worth coming in now."

Eric didn't say a word.

"I know how you feel right now, but you have a duty to your people. They need your guidance. It's not healthy to be out here by yourself, anyway."

"I know where she is."

The Major frowned. "What do you mean, Sire?"

"She's gone home." The King looked at the officer. "To her home. That's what the owl said; the locket would take her home at her normal size. _That's_ where she's gone!" He became increasingly more excited. "Don't you see, Major? If I get back to her world, I'll find her!"

_Oh, great Scott, he's gone mad. _

Mint didn't say that out loud, of course. All he could do was stare at the young man and pretend he knew what he was talking about. Owls? Other worlds? Clara's 'normal size'?

Eric, meanwhile, hadn't noticed the way Mint was staring at him. He was pacing back and forth, more excited than ever.

"Major," he asked, "isn't there another way back? Somewhere in this palace?"

Mint had no idea, but the King didn't even let him answer.

"Yes, there is, isn't there? So if I go through there and I find her house... I'll find her, won't I, Major?"

"I – I suppose so, Sire."

Eric nodded and headed towards the Great Hall. "Come on, Major; we need to tell the others. You'll be able to handle things while I'm gone, won't you?"

"Of course."

He followed the King, trying to decipher whether he was mad or not. All this talk of other worlds seemed like utter nonsense, but then again, Clara hadn't been local, had she? Maybe she_ had _come from some other world. If Eric knew how to get there, maybe he _could_ find her. It certainly seemed impossible. If he'd heard about it a week ago, Mint would've said it _was _impossible. However, he'd also have said that Eric wasn't fit to be King, the Sugar Plum Princess didn't exist and they'd only defeat the Mouse when he had a plan that would do the job. Perhaps Clara _could_ come back.

After all, nothing could surprise Major Mint anymore.


End file.
